


Day 14 - Hole

by ReaderRose



Series: 30 Days of Writing [14]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 30 Days of Writing, Ableist Language, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prison, Gambling, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Character Death, Pre-Canon, Prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 00:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14007735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaderRose/pseuds/ReaderRose
Summary: PRISON AUTwo cellmates bond in the Underground's only prison.





	Day 14 - Hole

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Invalid_Opinion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invalid_Opinion/gifts).



> More of InvalidOp's Prison AU! It's very good! I did something with this before here:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/10135802/chapters/25814442
> 
>  
> 
> **Warnings: some cursing, criminal activity, imprisonment, some vaguely gross stuff, references to gambling and murder and other assorted crimes.**

Aster was in the hole, alright. 

He thought it was just slang, back in the day, but it was pretty frickin accurate, turns out.

The Underground’s only prison was basically a basement underneath the castle, and it sure felt like a basement. Cramped, dank, small. Something was constantly dripping from the walls, and whatever it was stunk worse than anything Aster could imagine.

The walls themselves were kinda shabby. Normally his magic coulda busted right through em, but there was some kind of protection spell over the whole thing, so Aster couldn't break a damn thing. He usually knew his way through that sort of thing, but this stuff was the best and it would take something beyond the normal methods to break the seal and bust out. Pretty much, it was impossible.

Only reason it was even worth the thought was that Aster had both a long sentence and a short lifespan.

But for now, he was just sitting back, avoiding trouble, waiting for an opportunity. Patience was always one of his strong suits. It's how he got as far as he did (before the part where he ended up imprisoned).

* * *

 

But if Aster was in a hole, his cellmate was in an even deeper one.

Dr. Wingdings was in for life, pretty much. Aster didn't know if he was a different kind of skeleton that might live a little longer than he could expect to – it was definitely possible– but that didn't matter. Whether he lived one more day, or a thousand years, probably, he was probably still gonna die in this cell.

A real harsh sentence, but hey, that's what you get for killing a bunch of guards and shit. Wingdings really flew right off the handle. It was big news all over the Underground for a while, and why wouldn't it be? You know what the LV of the average monster running around the underground is? It's 1. Not one point something. Just 1. Because the few monsters with it are such outliers they aren't even counted towards the total.

Now, Aster knew a lot of rough characters. He ran an illegal casino. Gambling, blackmail, identity theft, fight clubs, burglary, whatever. Aster knew all sorts who didn't keep to the rules that governed the kingdom. That's how things are when you're a part of the Underworld of the Underground. But they were still monsters, and murder was unheard of.

The only killer Aster knew was the one who started at the walls all day and night above his cot and never talked.

It was funny, too, because he didn't even look that tough. He was a thin, lanky, scrawny kind of fella. He looked deranged most of the time, like someone out of an old sci-fi, but if anything he was kind of nerdy looking. Made sense. He used to be the Royal Scientist before he went off his rocker and killed a bunch of people.

Aster kinda wished he knew what happened there. He was hoping before he died in this cell he could at least get a taste of what went down, because the official story was pretty one sided, and ol’ ‘Dings hadn't given him a good reason to doubt it, but he knew at least one of those guards, and the official story that he was a hero and community leader, cut down in his prime? Let's just say that line stunk worse than the walls in this hole.

So Wingdings didn't talk, but Aster was never the silent type, so they came to an understanding of some sort. Aster could ramble on and on all day, and Wingdings would let him. But if Dings made it clear he wanted him to stop, usually by staring right through him and slamming a fist against the wall, then Aster knew it was time to shut up.

It was a good system.

Aster talked about anything and everything. It wasn't just breaking about cons and whatnot, though yeah, he was a proud kinda guy and he wasn't exactly humble. But he mostly talked about funny stuff that happened to him. Weird people he knew. Food he ate that shouldn't ‘a been eaten. Weird dreams. Dumb facts he knew about the stars. Just… the kinda stuff he would tell someone if he wanted them to be his friend. Not that he thought Mad Doctor L.V. over there would be too interested. But it was keeping him sane, grounded, even if he was already as deep in the ground as it gets.

And Dings was slamming his fists and glaring less and less. Whether he enjoyed his company or got used to the noise was anyone's guess. But Aster liked to think he was charming enough to win over even the hardest criminals, and Wingdings was as hard as it gets.

* * *

 

“So then Haps says to em, he says: ‘guess we know who the real spook is!’ heh heh heh!” Aster laughed, then looked over at Wingdings, who was looking at least somewhat in his direction. Usually he never even saw the doc’s eye sockets. But he wasn't glarin’, just… starin’. He felt self conscious, like suddenly after however many months in here, he finally had an audience. “'s funnier if you know Haps is a ghost.”

The doctor didn't respond.

Aster tried to think of another funny story to tell, since he had a real captive audience tonight (he had to save that one)

“Okay, okay, stop me if you've heard this one before, but a coelacanth and a gerbil walks into a bar, and the coelacanth says to the bartender—”

“Stop.”

Aster felt a chill go down his spine. He definitely complied. Didn't even have to hear the words.

Dr. Wingdings was looking right at him, straight in the eye. That was new. And it was terrifying. Maybe it was intent or maybe it was LV, who could tell, but Aster swore he felt a hole being burned right through the center of his skull, and even through his soul.

Everything was quiet. Aster didn't think he was breathing anymore.

The doctor tilted his head.

“I have heard that one before.”

“heh… heh… oh.” Aster gulped. “oh yeah?”

The doctor nodded, and looked away for a moment. “yeah… you told it the first week you were here. It was a very funny joke. I almost laughed at it.”

Aster wasn't sure how to take this guy's sudden willingness to speak. But he was just gonna have to bite down on his fear and work with it. He was starting to think the intent he thought he felt was a false positive. He never met someone with a high LV before. Maybe he was real sensitive to it. Some people were. (Though Aster never thought he'd stand accused of being sensitive.)

“You shoulda laughed! Then I'd know which jokes to tell ya!”

“Well…” Wingdings leaned back in his bunk a bit, looking a lot more amicable and a lot less rigid all of a sudden. “I said it was almost that funny. I didn't say it was that funny.”

Aster snorted. “Is that a challenge?”

“No… I just didn't want to hear that one again.” The former scientist's expression opened up a bit. “We'll be in here together for another 3 months and 8 days. I would rather listen to new things in the meanwhile.”

“Uh, buddy? Hate to be the one to break this to ya. The judge really shoulda, but uhh… you're in here for a lot longer than 3 more months, bud.”

A low rumbling noise crept into Aster's range of hearing, growing in volume and breaking out into something loud and clattering, paralyzing and all together foreign before he realized what it was. From above him, the mad doctor was grinning beyond what his skull should have been capable of.

“You finally made me laugh! Good job!!!”

“...'fraid I don't get the joke.”

“It's just that you are very wrong and very unaware of it. I'll be leaving here at exactly the time that I specified.” His grin faded a bit as his laughter died down. “You're free to join me, so long as you do not stop me.”

Aster gave the doctor a look that likely conveyed the thought “what the hell are you talking about,” but said “Okay, I'm intrigued. Hit me.”

“What? I'm not going to hit you; you would dust, which is completely counter to what I was– Oh.” Wingdings slammed his jaw shut and motioned for Aster to come closer.

The smaller prisoner clambered up the side of the bunked cots until he was eye level with the mad scientist that was his roommate. The owner of the top bunk moved to the side to allow Aster to see what was behind him.

The magic seal of the prison was oddly visible before him, and it was warping and pulsing from a point. And at its center, Aster saw something that should have been impossible.

 

It was a hole.

 

Dr. Wingdings, disgraced but brilliant Royal Scientist, spoke as if he was at a meeting with the King himself, and had just done what no one else had managed.  “3 months, 8 days. Are you interested?” In two words: he was cool, and he was  _smug._

And Aster... well, Aster was almost speechless. His cellmate went from totally nonverbal to  _this_ at the drop of a lousy joke. It took Aster a while just to find his words, but when he did, his usual permanent smile was that much wider. 

“Buddy, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”


End file.
